If the opening sequence to Pixar’s Up made you cry, pack your tissues for Inside Out, the studio’s new film about what happens inside your head when you have a feeling, a daydream, a nightmare, and more.
Inside Out focuses on the emotions—Joy . . .
If you grew up in the 1990s, chances are that Jurassic Park holds a pretty special place in your memories of childhood entertainment. For me, it’s right up there with Twister and Independence Day. It was the movie that introduced me to how feeling . . .
Last weekend, the box office offered a remake of a campy old ghost story and an original, if Disney-ified, adventure tale. Although I’ll undoubtedly eventually see Poltergeist, as the story that both terrified and amused me when I was a kid, . . .
When I think of comedy duos, the names Vergara and Witherspoon never would have come to mind. I, however, really like Reese Witherspoon and I kind of like Sofia Vergara, so I figured that I had nothing to lose seeing Hot Pursuit, a buddy cop movie . . .
In Artificial Intelligence research, there is something called the Turning Test, which is used to determine if the machine can pass for human. This test, and the question of what exactly qualifies as human intelligence, is at the center of the sci-fi . . .
Given the preponderance of low-quality found footage horror movies, I think I was justified in being skeptical when the ads for Unfriended claimed that the film was a great new innovation in the horror genre. While certainly not groundbreakingly original, . . .
Last weekend, audiences taught studios a lesson about underestimating girls and women at the box office. Home more than doubled its estimated opening weekend earnings, thanks to its lovable characters and diverse cast, enticing both adults and children . . .
In an era of remakes and mashups and anti-heroes, it was hard to understand why Disney would go forward with a high-budget version of Cinderella that was so traditional in its style and narrative. Although I feared that I would be bored by Kenneth . . .
When it comes to scary movies, I really like the artfully made ones or those that are so bad that they are as fun as they are scary. A really bad horror movie, in my book, is a mediocre one. The Lazarus Effect has some clever and campy elements, but . . .
On The Daily Show a couple of weeks ago, Colin Firth joked that he got his role in Kingsman: The Secret Service for being the actor who least looked like he could beat someone up, and that his character aggressively taught others their manners. It’s . . .
Seeing The Loft this week is a testament to just what I will put up with for James Marsden. The film is set up as a seedy film noir adventure, but proves to be too despicable and overly plotted for its own good, providing no characters to care about, . . .
While American Sniper generated giant ticket sales and controversy last weekend, I opted instead to see an adaptation about a beloved bear from “darkest Peru” who tries so hard to get things right, but stumbles into trouble anyway. Paddington . . .
Selma, the new film about the historic protests in Selma, Alabama, opens with a jarring shift. The audience is taken abruptly from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. accepting his Nobel Peace Prize to the shock and horror of the 16th Street Baptist Church . . .
Several times recently, I have hinted at my frustration about movies coming out in limited release. It is not unusual for a film that isn’t guaranteed to be a commercial hit to come out first in several hundred theaters and then get a nationwide . . .
When I finished reading Suzanne Collins’s Mockingjay, I wished that there had been a fourth book. The last installment of The Hunger Games Trilogy packed in so much character development and action that I felt shell-shocked when it was all over. . . .
Back in the ’90s and early 2000s, I was a big fan of Behind the Music and E! True Hollywood Story. Like a lot of teenage girls, I was fascinated by celebrity, and a lot of the juicy gossip that seemed to go hand-in-hand with major talent. Even . . .
If you watch enough movies, it starts to seem like the same stories are repeated over and over. Sometimes, though, a movie manages to infuse a shopworn story with enough creative energy to make it feel new. I found that was the case with St. Vincent.
St. . . .
One of my favorite parts of the fall is that the really good movies-the Best Picture contenders-start to show up in theaters. The problem, however, is that for those of us who don’t live in major cities, seeing these movies is often not an option. . . .
When I read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, I read it in one sitting. I read a lot, but it’s relatively rare that I lose myself so much in a book that it consumes my whole day. But, there I sat “one more chapter”-ing myself over and over . . .
I am one of those sad people who gets pretty worked up if an animal is injured or killed in a movie. There’s a whole website, DoestheDogDie.com, that caters to the needs . . .
Last weekend, I saw one of the worst movies I’ve seen in years—The November Man. Like with Winter’s Tale, I’m going to tell you about the whole story, because I’m not recommending that you suffer through it yourself.
The November . . .
Anytime a book is adapted for film, there’s the chorus of readers declaring that the book is always better than the movie. While I think that tends to be true, I am also far from a purist when it comes to adaptation. I’m okay with changes . . .
Get On Up tells the life story of James Brown (Chadwick Boseman) from his childhood of deep poverty and neglect to his legendary achievements in music and popular culture. The film gives little exposition, opting for a near-collage of his life events, . . .
Stuck in a week with nothing good to see, I took a chance on a movie I would never go to if it weren’t for this column: The Purge: Anarchy. While the violence was less gratuitous than I anticipated, there was more social commentary than I expected. . . .
Whether from her days as Sookie on Gilmore Girls or her Oscar-nominated role in Bridesmaids, many people have become big Melissa McCarthy fans. Her over-the-top characters and knack for physical comedy have produced a string of box-office hits including . . .